Avila

We had intended to visit Avila in 2010, but the weather changed and we had to get back to the warmth of Lisbon. Avila has the best intact city walls in Europe, so it is said, and, in 2010, we had to content ourselves with a long-distance view as we drove by. 2017 was different, as we spent most of the day and night in Avila, mostly on or about the walls.

Familiar sight: stork feeding young; nests on every high point

Nice Modernistta benches we have seen all over Spain

Castille y Leon

A bit of the walls from without

In the old city, at a patisserie, Vicki spies a new (to us) pastry:
the farton

We had to try some; looks more like a turdon with powdered
surgar

Also the micro-mini pain chocolat

With the legalization of marihuana some years back, the Spanish
are coming up with all sort of interesting new ways to smoke

Towers

St. Teresa is the local patron saint, and there
is a small St. Teresea industry here, shops,
pastries, icons

Some Art Nouveau here and there

This is the Celtic pig dug up some years ago--it dates from 200
to 500 BC--and which has become the city emblem

Official Avila pastry; we'd already met our
daily quota with the fartons

Avila's Parador, evidently the oldest of Spain's
paradors, a network of state-owned hotels
known for their historical interest, amenities,
restaurants, etc.

Avila street scene

Church of St. Teresa, with tour bus pilgrims

St. Teresa

Siege view of walls

We spent the night with 30 or so other rigs without the walls,
at the city's convention center parking lot, where there is an
aire de camping cars; at the convention center that weekend
was the Spanish National Association for Yoga, so it was
fairly quiet except for the deep breathing and occasional
"Namaste"